LEAD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the annual summit of the five-nation grouping, BRICS, on Thursday in the virtual format. The summit is expected to focus extensively on the situation in Afghanistan.

The meeting will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

“...Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 13th BRICS Summit on September 9 in virtual format,” the MEA said in a statement. The theme for the summit is: 'BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus'.

Farmers protesting against the Centre's farm laws held a mega meeting at Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, today, where they reiterated their resolve to continue with the protest and campaign against the BJP in the coming state elections.  "They (the Centre) said only a handful of farmers are protesting. Let them see how few are protesting. Let us raise our voices so it reaches the ears of those sitting in parliament," speaker after speaker declared from the dais.

Around 8,000 security men have been deployed to maintain law and order at the gathering, which is being attended by Rakesh Tikait and other farm leaders. The historic GIC ground, where the meet is being held – venue for earlier farmer meetings by iconic farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait -- is jam-packed.

New Delhi: Shooter Manish Narwal smashed the Paralympic record to clinch India's third gold in the ongoing Tokyo Games, while compatriot Singhraj Adana bagged the silver to make it a sensational one-two finish for the country here on Saturday. The gold and silver from the Faridabad duo took India's medal tally to 15 -- 3 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze. The 19-year-old Narwal, who holds the world record in the category, shot a total of 218.2, a Paralympic record, to claim the yellow metal in P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event in his debut Games. "I'm very happy," said Narwal who hails from Ballabhgarh in Haryana.

Narwal had a keen interest in sports from childhood and grew up wanting to become a football player. Unfortunately, he could not fulfil his footballing dreams due to a congenital ailment in his right hand. His wrestler father Dilbagh tried doing anything to make sure that his son's deformity did not hold him back. In 2016, on the suggestion of a family friend, Dilbagh took Narwal to a nearby shooting range at Ballabhgarh run by coach Rakesh Thakur. That changed Narwal's life and he instantly developed a keen interest in the sport and started doing practice regularly. But at that time, he did not know about Paralympic Games and he was practising and competing with other athletes for fun.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Union minister of minority affairs, said that worshippers in mosques in India are not killed by bullets and bombs, nor are girls stopped from going to the school.

Hours after a Taliban spokesperson claimed that the group has the “right” to raise its voice for the Muslims of Kashmir, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi asked the insurgents to “spare” Muslims of India, saying there are no instances of extremist atrocities in the name of religion in this country. In an interview to a news agency, the minority affairs minister said that the only scripture that is followed in India is that of the Constitution, and that worshippers in mosques here are not killed by bullets and bombs, nor are girls stopped from going to the school.

Naqvi indicated that there is a marked difference between the way India and Afghanistan are governed and thus the Taliban would do better than to speak for the Muslims in this country.

The government has urged people to avoid mass gatherings and added that if attending them is essential then full vaccination should be a prerequisite especially during the upcoming festive season.

The Centre has also warned against lowering the guard amid reports of a continuous surge in Covid-19 cases in some districts.

“Mass gatherings should be discouraged, particularly in the upcoming festival season… Full vaccination should be a prerequisite if it is absolutely essential or it becomes critical to have a gathering of some people,” Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.